[Movie] American Idol Season 6

American Idol started today. I know a fair few of you have zero respect for it, but I find it hilarious in the beginning and actually quite engaging later on. It's certainly a fantastic excuse to be a hyper-critical music snob, and it's pumped out some decent artists.

Today's episode was kinda boring, though. Jewel was nice at times and slightly mean, but not often. And the idiots, while mildly entertaining, weren't fantastically funny. Tomorrow's episode looks bone-chillingly disturbing, though. There are some serious freaks living in Seattle.


PS, I think Simon Cowell would fit in at Gamingforce all too well.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Wow today was painful. x_X Sometimes I wonder how they can let those people have their full audition time. I honestly had to mute a few of them, and for that freaky kid with the wide creepy eyes and the disgustingly off-pitch voice I had to mute it and avert my eyes. Some of them were pretty funny, though, like that mom-daughter combo. Almost as good as that infinitely ditzy mother-daughter from last year. Yeah.

Also, that one black 16-year-old girl was fantastic.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Especially with freaky guy - he said his coworkers that convinced him to go on the show had never actually heard him sing. I can only assume that his immense social awkwardness was caused (in part at least) by some old-fashioned Utah sheltering (and possibly home schooling, since that happens a lot in the smaller towns in Utah, one of which he was from). He was SO BAD. I literally almost cried.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Yeah, you can tell when someone's a freak for the sake of getting onto the show, but there's still that really strong genuine-freak contingent that makes waves year in and year out.

For 16, she had the voice of a 26-year-old. She was good. They let that young guy go through (the Indian kid), and he was good, but you could tell his voice was way too young. I don't see him getting too far, because his voice won't be able to handle some of the stuff they're going to throw at him. The 16-year-old girl, on the other hand, will probably be able to handle it. Though I do agree she was a bit too sweet, and she was far from perfect in general. Just very good.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Don't know who Brian Peppers is.

I think that a good indication of whether you'll get through the later rounds in Idol is how popular you were/are in high school. By the later rounds it's mostly popularity and looks rather than vocal quality, although there are abberations. For instance, Chris from last season was WAY more marketable than any of the eventual top 3, but he got voted off before they did.

How ya doing, buddy?

I think the editors have been mean in both their portrayal of people and what clips they choose to focus on, but that's about it.

And my cousin watched the Seattle episode today and I sat in on the fat kid's audition (the one AI is receiving flak for because he was Special Olympics and they think the show was unfair to him), but the judges were beyond nice to him, and though there was a bit too much focus on him, I think they were pretty fair overall.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I must say, Melinda Doolittle is the best thing to happen to American Idol in forever. She's amazing, pitch-perfect, has the most endearing personality combined with a huge stage presence, and if she doesn't make it to the end America has some serious owning up to do.

FELIPE NO

Antonella might go pretty far, but she won't win. She shouldn't go far, but votefortheworst.com is supporting her. >:( You sure lucked out with Melinda, though.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

They're championing Sundance for the guys. I hate Sanjaya with a fiery passion. He's not a good singer at all, he's ugly and freaky looking, and I don't know why people are voting for him (according to dialidol.com he has probably been second in the voting both weeks). Amen on the eyebrows. :P

How ya doing, buddy?

I mostly don't care about them. I mean, sure, she doesn't have the squeaky-clean image that Idol typically likes to parade around, but her abysmal singing ought to get her kicked off the show anyway. And there's nothing in the rules that states that she shouldn't have taken near-porn pics of herself before auditioning anyway. It's unfortunate, but it shouldn't take her out of the competition.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Well, people outside of Idol are clamoring for her to get kicked off because she's not a good role model, or something. I don't think the Idol producers will do anything about it, though, because A) any press is good press, and 2) she's (hopefully) bound to get kicked off eventually anyway. I would honestly lose all trust in the system if she made it to the final grouping. Votefortheworst has outdone themselves this year.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Holy monkey, I have to post just to note how FREAKING INCREDIBLE Melinda Doolittle is. I probably come across as a bit of a broken record, but they should just cancel the show, hand her the crown, and get her in a studio to start laying down tracks for a CD. She could be kicked off today and she'd have a record contract in a heartbeat. She's AMAZING. I was floored, once again.

It's too bad the guys are stinkin' it up so bad, because the girls are really on fire this year. The overall talent pool might leave a lot to be desired when compared with last season, but the girls have it goin' on.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Crash Landon

Chris Richardson is okay, if not a little bit of a Justin Timberlake wannabe. He'll make Top 12 easily but probably won't get into the final six.

Melinda, however, has the goods to go the distance. Her only true competition could come from Lakisha Jones or possibly Chris Sligh, depending upon whether he delivers a few knockouts along the way.

Originally Posted by Crash Landon

If votefortheworst has any influence at all, then Sanjaya will take the gold medal. That kid's horrible.

Also, he has caterpillars for eyebrows. That is just freakish.

In other news, I called the final 4 back during the round of 24, and the top 3 are who they ought to be, I think. And now there's not much of a split of demographics - it's going to be a battle royale, and I don't know who I want to go next.

Most amazing jew boots

None of the top 3 do, though. Melinda will be able to release whatever she wants, Blake sounds great recorded (do away with all of his flat notes by post-production) and has a real flair for making things contemporary, and Jordin will do great if she picks the right genre to stick with (unlike Katharine McPhee - fantastic voice, but I don't think she chose a smart genre to work with given her strengths). Really at this point it's more of a question of who gets to play hard ball and have a hand in determining their record deal, and who's locked into the American Idol spot. It's a trade-off, because you get a heckuvalot of advertising and built-in popularity through American Idol, but you don't determine much of anything on the contract.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by RockgamerXIII

Maybe it was just me, but LaKisha never really did anything as good as she did when she sang that song in the top 24. She set the bar for herself too high too early, so she was never able to surpass what she did back then.

I agree that she never topped that performance, but I don't think that worked against her - on the contrary, everyone said "Oh, it's gonna be between Melinda and LaKisha" when really, LaKisha should have been maybe 6th. She was good, but so inconsistent. Instead, everyone equated her with awesome and she made it to 4th.

As for the final outcome, it will be really interesting. I don't think Melinda will get cut next week, because her following is strong, but she might not win depending on who she's up against, because of demographic displacement. Jordin and Blake share the younger demographic, but if Jordin gets cut I think more of her votes would go to Melinda than Blake's votes would. I think Jordin has more of a chance of taking Melinda out in the final than Blake would.

FELIPE NO

I will agree that Blake and Jordin are more marketable, but that's mostly because they're more attractive, and are (and feel) younger. Stage presence isn't all about moving around and making pretty faces - stage presence is about commanding attention and demanding respect. When she's up there talking, Melinda has no apparent stage presence. Once she starts to sing, though, people who like the type of music she sings perk up, bigtime. And she knows how to move around the stage - "Have A Nice Day" and "I'm A Woman" should have proven that, among other songs. She doesn't move around on every song, I think, because it doesn't necessarily call for it, and she knows it isn't her strength. Jordin doesn't move around much, either, because her stage style is more of a ballad approach. Blake moves the entire time because he knows how, and it's part of his ticket to go places. I understand that people will dislike Melinda, but to say she has no stage presence doesn't make any sense to me.

As for a lucrative career, Melinda can definitely pull it off, if she picks the right music to do. Her biggest demographic is the 35-44 age group, although she garners support from other groups as well. Marketing her to the major supporting demographic is the smart way to go - it's how people like Celine Dion, Michael Buble, Josh Groban, and that sort keep the money flying in. Melinda can vocally pull of any genre that's thrown at her, but her sweet spots are in soul, old-style Aretha-type stuff, and ballads. Sticking to her strengths, I'm sure she'd do fine.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?